New 70th Assembly District race keeps same faces as before

LONG BEACH - The more things change, the more they stay the same, apparently, when it comes to Long Beach's Assembly district.

The work of the state redistricting commission has changed the ordinal designation, from 54th to 70th, excising the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The 70th District now includes Long Beach, Signal Hill, the Los Angeles community of San Pedro and Catalina Island.

Despite those differences, when June primary voters open their ballot, they'll find the same candidates as they did two years ago - Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, and Republican Martha Flores-Gibson.

Because Lowenthal and Flores-Gibson are the only contenders, next month's election is perfunctory. Under the top-two primary laws, the first two finishers, regardless of party, advance to the November general election.

Lowenthal and Flores-Gibson have similar backgrounds and divergent political beliefs.

Lowenthal, 72, has a master's degree in psychology and worked as a family counselor before serving on the Long Beach Unified School District Board and the Long Beach City Council.

Flores-Gibson, 57, has a master's in social work and a doctorate in educational leadership. She was a social worker for the Long Beach Unified School District and now works as a substitute teacher for the district.

Though Lowenthal beat Flores-Gibson 56.6 percent to 43.4 percent in 2010, she says she isn't taking election to what would be her final Assembly term for granted.

Her top issues are education and public safety.

"We need to work harder to get more teachers in the classrooms and more cops on the street," said Lowenthal, 72.

The last time the two women squared off, it was Flores-Gibson's first campaign.

Since then, Flores-Gibson entered a race to succeed late Long Beach Democrat Jenny Oropeza in the state Senate, a seat eventually won by Ted Lieu, D-Torrance.

Her priorities are job creation through the elimination of regulation and improving education by shifting money from state bureaucracy to classrooms.

Flores-Gibson said she is now better prepared and organized to take on Lowenthal, whom she claims is in the pocket of special interests.

"The difference is that when you look at her record on those who have supported her for the 24 years she has been in office," said Flores-Gibson. "She needs to vote the way they tell her to vote."

As an example, Flores-Gibson chose Lowenthal's vote to end redevelopment agencies.

Lowenthal said her vote illustrates the difficulties and realities of governing.

Cutting redevelopment agencies was an integral part of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to balance a $26.6 billion budget deficit in 2011.

Lawmakers thought they had preserved some vestige of redevelopment by allowing cities to "opt-in" and pay to continue their local agency, Lowenthal said.

The California Supreme Court later struck down that provision when it ruled against agencies that had challenged the Legislature's action.

"Much to our chagrin, it was found to be unconstitutional despite what the best attorneys inside the capitol thought," Lowenthal said.